Tag Archives: AT&T National

When Nick Watney pushed his drive on No. 12 during the final round of the AT&T National, his ball smacked a fan in the middle of the forehead on the fly and then bounced roughly 25 yards back into the fairway. The spectator didn’t even flinch, insisting he was fine. Uh, buddy, you just got hit in the head by a golf ball that was traveling at a hundred-plus miles-an-hour!

Watney may have been the luckier one in the situation, though. Had his errant drive not taken a favorable kick after thumping the fan, Watney would have likely had a tough shot out of Aronimink’s heavy rough. Right after that happened, I thought to myself, “He’s going to win.”

You see, as much as golf is about skill, it takes good breaks to close for a victory. Sometimes you need the favorable bounces and you definitely need to have a little bit of luck out there.

Rickie Fowler had just about everyone pulling for him before the start of the fourth round of the AT&T National, where he was tied for the 54-hole lead with eventual winner Nick Watney. Unfortunately, it only took two holes for those hopes to plummet down the drain when Fowler made a mess on the second hole, quickly falling three shots off the lead. He had plenty of time to compensate for the mistake — 16 holes, to be precise — but he never recovered, only sinking farther down the ‘board.

Aronimink Golf Club sure played differently on Saturday than it did on Thursday during the first round of the AT&T National. The greens were hosed down overnight and considerably softer in the third round, allowing players to attack pins more aggressively. The result? The course record was broken more than once and the scores were noticeably lower.

The guys took advantage of the favorable scoring conditions, especially Nick Watney, who shot an eight-under 62, including a blistering 27 on the back nine.

When my friend Jeff called and asked if I was available on Tuesday morning to take part in David Feherty’s IED of Golf, which is put on by Feherty’s foundation, Troops First, in conjunction with Jeff’s, No Greater Sacrifice, I said yes without hesitation. Jeff added there was one catch — you have to stay radio silent about the event until afterward and you can’t disclose the location.

Rookie Jhonattan Vegas won the third PGA Tour event of the year, the Bob Hope Classic, which earned the attention of the press in his native Venezuela. Problem is, the country doesn’t understand golf, so Vegas has had to try to explain to the press some of the basics of the game — just simple things, like how placing top-20 at a PGA Tour event amounts to a pretty great week.

Many players walked off their last hole at Aronimink Golf Club in the first round of the AT&T National and felt like they had just grinded through the first round of the US Open.

“I didn’t do anything crazy on the greens. I just played them solid,” said Joe Ogilivie after posting a three-under 67, a shot off the lead. “This course is set up like a U.S. Open. The fairways are a little bit wider, but it’s definitely playing similar — except for this year’s U.S. Open.”

NEWTON SQUARE, Pa. — Does anyone remember how they spent the summer between their freshman and sophomore years in college? I hardly do because it obviously wasn’t memorable (but I think I worked on my golf game and had a part-time job). In ten years I doubt Patrick Cantlay, a rising sophomore at UCLA, will have the same problem.

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — When Tiger Woods was 21, he won the ’97 Masters by a ridiculous margin of 12 shots. With Tiger injured and Rory McIlroy winning the US Open in Tiger-esque style, several have claimed the Tiger Era is over and it’s now the Rory Era. At Tiger’s press conference on Tuesday at AT&T National, he praised Rory for his incredible win at Congressional.

Tiger Woods spoke on Tuesday at Aronimink Golf Club, the site for the AT&T National, which benefits his foundation. He hasn’t hit balls since withdrawing from The Players Championship last month and didn’t know whether he’d be back in time for the British Open at Royal St. George’s in a few weeks (but he didn’t rule it out, either).

Surprise! — Tiger Woods didn’t say anything surprising in his AT&T National media day presser at Aronimink Golf Club. Woods is wearing a protective boot for his injured left Achilles tendon and using crutches to take pressure off his left knee and calf.